# Livermush



## ComicBookFreak (Sep 7, 2005)

I saw the thread on Grits and wondered if anyone has ever at Livermush. I know this is made here in NC locally. My personal favorite is hunter Livermush but i also like Jenkins.
Here is a little article on it.

North Carolina goes hog wild over livermush

By Timothy C. Davis 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – There are few words you can put in front of "mush" to make it sound even worse, right? Now add the word "liver." Sounds enticing, doesn't it? 
When you learn what goes into livermush, it doesn't get any better, since it's a mixture of pig liver (at least 30 percent, by law), head parts, and cornmeal. Funny, then, how people in central North Carolina love it so. Funny how Shelby, N.C., mayor Ted Alexander has proclaimed it "the world's most perfect food." Funny how that same town hosts something called the Livermush Expo, which draws thousands every year.

Some of its fans enjoy publicizing the unusual meat. Jan Karon, author of a series of books set in fictional Mitford, N.C., has her characters eating livermush in almost every volume. And then there's Mr. Alexander, who loves livermush so much he spells it with a capital "L" - "out of respect," he says - and eats it at least once a week, whether at home or away. "When my daughter Christina and I go camping, she always insists that we take livermush with us, too."

As the unofficial spokesman of livermush, Alexander has seen the processed meat product move from regional joke to feted culinary oddity in the 17 years since Shelby first celebrated its first Livermush Expo. The award-winning festival still packs the streets once a year in celebration of this strangest of meats.

Thought to be a descendant of scrapple, livermush was most likely brought south through the Appalachian mountains by German settlers. It was thought to have thrived throughout the Civil War, when any available foodstuff had to be stretched as far as possible.

Yet, even as people in the region have seen their local economies grow dramatically, livermush remains a mealtime staple, without any of the advertising and marketing tricks companies sometimes like to use to sell potentially icky foodstuffs.

Much like the town it's centered around, everything's right there for the world to see.

Whether due to nostalgia, family tradition, or shock value, livermush is now hotter than ever. (Literally, in fact. In response to overwhelming demand, most companies now make a "hot 'n' spicy" version as well as the milder type.)

"Livermush is just an institution around here," Alexander says. "You can't get good nutrition like this just anywhere, and we are always proud of that fact. It's truly the world's most versatile food."

Strange thing is, he may be right. Restaurants such as Charlotte's Landmark Diner offer such delicacies as a livermush and feta omelet, and Tony's Pizza in Boiling Springs was known for offering several varieties of livermush pizza.

However you slice it - fried as a breakfast meat, eaten cold in a sandwich, or tossed on top of a pizza - livermush can boast of being high in protein and low in fat, yet it doesn't weigh down the pocketbook.

Although the price has increased over the years - one could purchase a five-pound block of the stuff for around 10 cents a pound in the 1930s and '40s - livermush will still set you back only about $2 for a brick-sized loaf at almost any grocery store in the Piedmont region of North Carolina.

Sales are climbing, too, with regional producerssuch as McKee's turning out about 4,000 pounds of livermush daily.

Alexander says he recently learned that the "godfather of bluegrass music," Earl Scruggs, a Shelby native known for his banjo playing, also loves livermush. Makes sense. Earl always did know how to pick 'em

So who wants some? 

CBF:w


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## Warhorse545 (Oct 16, 2005)

I have had Scrapple,, so NO thanks


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## kvm (Sep 7, 2005)

Although the name isn't the greatest and I can deal with liver and cornmeal, you lost me with "head parts" and I don't eat any meat (I use the term loosely) that I can buy a "brick" of. u It is comforting to know there is a law that requires it to contain at least 30% pigs liver to maintain the livermush standard.

NO thanks Bro.  Reminds me of when my grandmother used to make Spam. Remember when Spam used to be a "meat"


Note to self: Do not open any packages originating from NC


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## Warhorse545 (Oct 16, 2005)

KVM,
Hey now Spam is a good thing  Just about every restaurant in Hawaii has it on the menu  

But still livermush is not going to be on my plate 



Stacey


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## shakespeare (Mar 10, 2005)

If it tastes anything like spam... NO THANKS. Liver is a favourite of mine though. This reminds me of something we have here called Morcela. A kind of soft sausage. Don´t ask what it has in it, all I know is the majority of the Portuguese population LOVE it. I don´t. Tried it once and turned 8 shades of green.


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

Livermush? No thanks! Bet PaulMac would dig it though.....


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## PaulMac (Jul 15, 2003)

carbonbased_al said:


> Livermush? No thanks! Bet PaulMac would dig it though.....


sheesh, just cause I like Haggis doesn't mean I gonna like this...I agree, cow head parts is scary....non committal vaguery (is that even a word? lol) scares me...if yer afraid to tell me exactly whats in it...I ain't eating it


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

PaulMac said:


> sheesh, just cause I like Haggis doesn't mean I gonna like this...


Cause haggis sounds just as appetizing :r


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## PaulMac (Jul 15, 2003)

carbonbased_al said:


> Cause haggis sounds just as appetizing :r


I disagree totally lol...I KNOW whats in Haggis....its a Sausage people, get over it lol


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## Lumpold (Apr 28, 2005)

Haggis served as part of a soup/broth type thing is wonderful. Livermush, as Paul says, is a bit to vague... 30% Liver then 70% cornmeal and head parts? Mmmm... sounds appetizing!


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## kansashat (Mar 13, 2004)

Sounds like a mixture of head cheese, liverwurst & corn mush. 

Now what could be better than that?


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## floydp (Jun 6, 2004)

I'm hungry... Do they have it on the menu at Cracker Barrel?


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